The Future Wearable Diabetes Technology is (Just About) Here

Learn about revolutionary wearable diabetes technology that may be coming to market soon!

New wearable diabetes technology may be just around the corner thanks to researchers from The University of Texas at Dallas. The team has been working for several years to develop a wearable diagnostic tool that uses a microscopic amount of user’s sweat over the period of seven days to measure three important compounds in the body related to diabetes and inflammation. These three compounds are glucose, cortisol and interleukin-6 (an inflammatory marker). Now that you know what the device will measure, you may be wondering what the data and information found correlates to as far as health? Cortisol levels can increase when somebody is under constant stress. This stress can lower one’s insulin resistance, which will eventually raise their glucose level above normal.

When glucose is trending higher than it should be, it can put someone into pre-diabetic status. Without intervention, this could eventually lead to a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes. When Type 2 diabetes comes into play, your body may progress into a state of inflammation, which would show up in your interleukin 6 marker levels. By being able to measure all of these crucial compounds in the body on a regular basis, it can make it easier for diabetics to manage and regulate the disease.

This new non-invasive blood sugar monitoring device uses a special gel called RTIL (room temperature ionic liquid) to stabilize the skin’s surface so accurate measurements can be taken over an entire week. After, the user will have 168 hours’ worth of information to better understand his or her health and which activity, food or lifestyle changes cause markers to increase or decrease.

The goal of Dr. Shalini Prasad, bioengineering professor, and her research team is to make the wearable diabetes monitor as affordable as possible. The team’s hope is to implement a small transceiver into the device, which will then send the user’s info directly to a cellphone app. The researchers are currently searching for an appropriate partner to bring the technology to market, and hope to get it into the hands of patients within the next year.

Type 2 diabetes, which happens to be the most prevalent form of the disease, happens when someone’s body doesn’t use insulin properly. In fact, you may sometimes hear Type 2 diabetes called insulin resistant diabetes. The pancreas will begin to make too much insulin, and then as time goes on, it will not be able to make enough. When someone is diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, oral medication, insulin and lifestyle changes are generally required. Not properly taking control of the disease can result in long-lasting health complications including damage to the eyes, heart, nerves and kidneys, or create a need for amputation.